Tuesday, October 02, 2007

recettes à la française

I’m reprinting a recent post from my co-authored food blog, Three Tarts; my apologies to those of you who have already seen this. It’s off-topic for a blog about second language acquisition, but right on target for the Francophiles among us!

The Cercle Français (French Club) at the school where I used to teach (Colorado State University) is looking for recipes from France and other French-speaking countries to publish in a cookbook to raise money for the club. If you have any tried-and-true recipes that you love and would be willing to have included, they'd be very appreciative! (They're currently short of their goal of 150.) No monetary compensation, of course, but I bet they'd be willing to cite your website under your name if you're a blogger--so that means free publicity and new readers!

To share your recipes, please either post them here via the "comments" section or email them to me at babybilingual (at) gmail (dot) com. Merci beaucoup!

Here's one of my favorites to get you started: Pasta Niçoise (inspired by the foods of Nice, on the French Riviera, and its delicious Salade Niçoise).

Pasta Niçoise
Adapted from a recipe in the Denver Post

2 Tbsp olive oil
3 large shallots, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb haricots verts, trimmed, cut into 1/2-inch slices (if haricots verts, the skinny French green beans, are not available, substitute regular green beans)
1/2 c. chicken or vegetable broth
1/4 c. red wine
1 Tbsp herbes de Provence (substitute dried Italian herb blend), or more to taste
1 tsp salt
Freshly ground pepper
1 c. pitted niçoise olives (very small briny black olives with pits; substitute larger black olives if necessary--but don't use canned black olives!)
1 lb rotini pasta, cooked according to package directions
1 c. soft chèvre (goat cheese)
Toasted pine nuts (optional)

Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat; sauté shallot and garlic until golden and fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add green beans, broth, wine, herbs, salt, and pepper to taste; cook until beans are cooked through, stirring occasionally, about 6 minutes (longer if using larger green beans).Stir in olives; cook until heated through, about 1 minute. Put pasta in large serving bowl; add bean-olive mixture. Stir in chèvre. Sprinkle with pine nuts if desired and serve.

Other alternatives: Add (or substitute for the olives) chopped sun-dried tomatoes. Sprinkle finely diced hard-boiled egg on top to boost protein for a vegetarian main dish.

Serves 8.

2 comments:

  1. I'd give you the maroilles pie recipe, but you can't find the cheese in the US.

    Leek and goat cheese pie:

    1 flaky dough pie crust

    2 leeks
    2 shallots
    40 Cl of heavy cream
    4 eggs
    1/2 cup of milk
    150g of goat cheese (soft, crumbly cheese works best)
    grated swiss cheesee
    salt and pepper to taste
    a pinch of nutmeg

    sautée the leeks and shallots in a little olive oil or butter until they are lightly browned.

    beat the eggs, cream, milk, salt, pepper and nutmeg together.
    smoosh the goat cheese in the mixture.
    add the leeks

    pour everything into the pie crust.

    top with grated swiss cheese.

    bake for about 30 minutes at 425°F until top is brown.

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  2. Oh, how I miss French cheeses!

    Thanks for this recipe--sounds delicieux!

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